Flustered, you mutter under your breath ' about Tourette's, but get mostly blank stares. By this time, your son wants to slip under the table and die of embarrassment. This is the very sort of feeling of dread you'd hoped to But they never seem to tell you about the terrible side effects of some of these medicines… like weight gain, fainting, nausea, loss of bladder control and even a permanent condition called Tardive Dyskinesia which produces slithery tongue movements and even more uncontrolled movement of the cheeks, jaw, arms and legs.
.
Common vocal tics include sniffing, throat clearing, grunting, making loud sounds or saying words. The frequency of both motor and vocal tics can occur anywhere from several times per minute to only a few times per day. Some children will display mild tics that almost go unnoticed, while others will display severe tics, like severe head moves and contorted facial movements, they occur every few minutes. Tics will vary over time in type, number and frequency. Some Tourette kids will go through period that last from a few days to as long as a year where they might not display any tics. Tics usually escalate to a peak during the puberty years, then I'm sure I don't need to bring up the countless times you've taken your son or daughter out…perhaps for a get-together at a favorite restaurant with friends or a dinner at your local church.
And then it happens… A few involuntary twitches there, some low grunts and a loud, almost-screeching WHOOP! that jolts everyone in the room from their conversations and directs their attention squarely on you - and your child.
"Mom…" he might whisper…"Why is everybody staring at me?" His once-excited mood sinks like a lead weight. "Don't they know it isn't my fault?"
though the word "involuntary" is used to describe the nature ohe tics, this is not entirely accurate. It would not be true to say that people with TS have absolutely no control over their tics, as though it was some type of spasm; rather, a more appropriate term would be "compelling." People with TS feel an irresistable urge to perform their tics, much like the need to scratch a mosquito bite. Some people with TS are able to hold back their tics for up to hours at a time, but this only leads to a stronger outburst of tics once they are finally allowed to be expressed.
Flustered, you mutter under your breath ' about Tourette's, but get mostly blank stares. By this time, your son wants to slip under the table and die of embarrassment. This is the very sort of feeling of dread you'd hoped to But they never seem to tell you about the terrible side effects of some of these medicines… like weight gain, fainting, nausea, loss of bladder control and even a permanent condition called Tardive Dyskinesia which produces slithery tongue movements and even more uncontrolled movement of the cheeks, jaw, arms and legs.
.
Common vocal tics include sniffing, throat clearing, grunting, making loud sounds or saying words. The frequency of both motor and vocal tics can occur anywhere from several times per minute to only a few times per day. Some children will display mild tics that almost go unnoticed, while others will display severe tics, like severe head moves and contorted facial movements, they occur every few minutes. Tics will vary over time in type, number and frequency. Some Tourette kids will go through period that last from a few days to as long as a year where they might not display any tics. Tics usually escalate to a peak during the puberty years, then I'm sure I don't need to bring up the countless times you've taken your son or daughter out…perhaps for a get-together at a favorite restaurant with friends or a dinner at your local church.
And then it happens… A few involuntary twitches there, some low grunts and a loud, almost-screeching WHOOP! that jolts everyone in the room from their conversations and directs their attention squarely on you - and your child.
"Mom…" he might whisper…"Why is everybody staring at me?" His once-excited mood sinks like a lead weight. "Don't they know it isn't my fault?"